Also known as: federal judicial powers · judicial power
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The authority vested in one supreme Court and in inferior courts that Congress may ordain and establish. Judges of those courts hold office during good behavior and receive compensation that may not be diminished during their tenure.
Congress passes a statute creating a new federal district court in a region experiencing heavy caseloads. The statute provides that the judges appointed to that court will serve during good behavior and receive salaries that cannot be reduced while they remain in office. Felicity French, a litigant with a pending federal question claim, files her case in the new court.
Farah Fox, a citizen of State A, sues Francois Fortier, a citizen of State B, in federal district court over a contract dispute exceeding $75,000. The complaint alleges only state-law claims but invokes the diversity jurisdiction provision of Article III. The court accepts the case because it falls within the controversies between citizens of different states.
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Faye Fuller, a citizen of State B, files a federal suit against the State of State A seeking damages for alleged breach of a state contract. The State moves to dismiss on sovereign immunity grounds. The court grants the motion because the Eleventh Amendment bars federal judicial power over suits against a state by citizens of another state.
Frostline Textiles, an Illinois corporation, challenges an Illinois takeover statute in federal district court. The district court issues an injunction preventing enforcement of the state law. On appeal the reviewing court holds that the federal judiciary may not grant dispensation from a valid state statute even when the result appears reasonable.
Fusion Power, a New York corporation, sues Fidelity Trust, a Pennsylvania bank, in federal court under diversity jurisdiction for breach of a loan agreement governed by Pennsylvania law. The federal judge applies Pennsylvania substantive rules rather than fashioning a federal common law rule because the case presents no federal question.
Freeman Engineering sues six unknown federal narcotics agents in federal district court alleging an unconstitutional search and seizure that violated the Fourth Amendment. The court recognizes an implied damages remedy directly under the Constitution even though Congress has not enacted a statute creating such a cause of action.
Article III Section 2 lists the cases and controversies to which the judicial power extends, including those arising under the Constitution or federal laws, admiralty matters, controversies involving the United States, and disputes between states or between citizens of different states.
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Yes. The Eleventh Amendment provides that the judicial power of the United States shall not extend to suits against a state by citizens of another state or by foreign citizens or subjects.
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No. While Congress may make exceptions to the Supreme Court's appellate jurisdiction, it may not eliminate every avenue of federal judicial review for constitutional claims.
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…ascertained by law and he has no discretion. In contemplation of law they are as if done. These justices exercise part of the judicial power of the United States and ought therefore to be independent. The applicants conceive themselves to be duly appointed justices and believe it their duty to maintain their rights and not to…